How Diabetes Researchers Are Leveraging Advances In Technology

Diabetes Michael Riddell, a professor of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University, lives and breathes diabetes research, and knows more than most the effects of this disease.

Dr. Michael Riddell PhD

Professor and Graduate Program Director School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University

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"Dr. Riddell’s team is in the early stages of research into a new drug that will help build a natural response when a person’s blood sugar drops."

Dr. Riddell is a type 1 diabetic, and is excited by new research that is leading to better outcomes for people with diabetes. He is currently studying the effects of exercise and stress on diabetes. Low blood sugar is a common side effect of insulin, and this can be exacerbated during exercise. Many people don’t recognize they have low blood sugar, which can result in people getting shaky, weak, confused, disorientated, and if left untreated can lead to unconsciousness and death.

Dr. Riddell’s team is in the early stages of research into a new drug that will help build a natural response when a person’s blood sugar drops. Additionally, diabetes researchers are developing an artificial pancreas that can communicate with a continuous glucose monitoring machine, and use sophisticated programming to automatically increase or lower insulin by detecting exercise, or the type of meal someone has had. Right now, according to Dr. Riddell, it’s a bit hit and miss on dispensing the best amount of insulin for someone with diabetes.

“Diabetes is a complex disease, but there have been some pretty amazing advances through research,” says Dr. Riddell, “We need to do more research, because no other disease is the patient in control of their disease. They live it minute by minute, and the decisions they make impact their blood sugar.”